


Family Matters

by zeely



Series: OH Snippets [2]
Category: Open Heart (Visual Novels)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:53:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23562622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeely/pseuds/zeely
Summary: When Jason's family interferes push comes to shove and  Ethan's feelings are laid bare.
Relationships: Ethan Ramsey/Main Character (Open Heart), Ethan Ramsey/Original Male Character(s)
Series: OH Snippets [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695931
Kudos: 23





	Family Matters

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired to write this after the short bit of marriage dialogue available in the diamond scene in chapter 5 of season 2 and after seeing [this](https://edenbrooks.tumblr.com/post/613133232360374272/i-present-to-you-ethan-visits-mcs-family-for-the) amazing fanart. Just a short bit of fluff because I have no patience for this slowest of burns anymore. I just want Ethan to get over himself so we can get to the domestic cuteness asap. Also apparently, I have nothing better to do in quarantine than to think about these two...
> 
> This technically takes place between [Resistance](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20070772) and [Intimacy](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21660736).
> 
> Anyway, stay safe, and Happy Easter to those that celebrate it! :)

Jason plunked down on the couch next to Ethan with a sigh, putting his phone away from him on the coffee table and staring at it forlornly. Ethan looked up from his book and slowly took off his glasses.

”What’s going on? You've been glued to that thing since you walked through the door twenty minutes ago.”

”I was my mom.”

”I figured as much, with all the mandarin,” he said with a slight smile. ”Was it bad news?”

”Kind of…?” Jason hedged, biting his lip.

Ethan sighed, putting away his book next to Jason's phone and shifting a little on the couch so he was turned towards him. ”What is it? You know you can tell me.”

Jason melded a little further into the couch, his shoulders slumping. ”Yeah, but I'm not so sure you want to hear this…”

Ethan's brows knitted in confusion. ”You know I'm a doctor, anything you say--"

”It's not like that. No one's sick. They're fine.”

”Oh…” said Ethan, his frown deepening. Jason knew it well as his concerned face. ”Then why do you look as if you're going to be ill?”

”Well…” Jason got up from the couch and started pacing the carpet in front of him. ”You know that we've only recent started officially dating…”

Ethan nodded, leaning forward a bit where he sat, resting his elbows on his knees. ”Yes. I believe I was there when the decision was made.”

Jason ignored the dry comment. ”And you know how close my family is…”

”Yes, you have told me…”

”And you remember how I told you how I love them but I was kinda relieved when I moved over here because that put some distance between us?”

Ethan grinned. ”I have been known to pick up a thing or two…”

”Well… it so happens that last night, when we were out, we were spotted, by my mom's fourth cousin's son in law…”

”Oh dear…”

”Yes,” said Jason, wringing his hands, ”and he told his wife, who then told her mom, who then told _my_ mom…”

Ethan leaned back a bit again. ”So she's mad?”

”Worse.”

”Worse?” Ethan's eyebrows shot up. ”I thought you said you were out to your family?”

”Yes, I've been out since I was fourteen. My mom knew I was gay even before I did. Her friend who owns a kiosk caught me ripping out an underwear ad from one of their magazines and told her. Even I didn’t know why I did it then – I thought I just liked the brand!”

On the couch Ethan cleared his throat. ”I think I'm failing to see the problem here… Is it because I'm not Chinese?”

”No, no, it's not that, we're already a mix – my brother's wife is Korean, my aunt's husband is Argentinian, and my great, great grandmother was of Scandinavian descent. Swedish royals, my father swears, but no one believes him.” He made a sharp turn on the carpet, blowing out air through his nose. “It's worse because she's absolutely _thrilled_. She had my brother look you up online so she knows you're a famous doctor and now she wants to meet you.”

Understanding finally dawned on Ethan's face. ”Ah.”

”I'm _so_ sorry, I thought we'd have more time. I thought we were safe with the bulk of my family being in Seattle. But I forgot to account for fourth cousins…”

”It's alright.”

”I'll talk her out of it, I promise,”

Ethan got up and caught hold of Jason's hands in his, forcing him to stop wearing a hole in the carpet.

”Jason, it's ok, I don’t mind meeting your family,” he said, giving them a light squeeze.

Jason stopped in pure surprise. ”Really? You wouldn't?”

”Sure, I meant what I said before, I want to do this right. Us. And that means meeting your family. It's going to happen sooner or later, so we’ll just do it sooner.”

Jason shook his head. ”You say that, but you don’t know what this means. I have never brought home a partner before, I've never told them about any of my boyfriends, and there is a reason for that. When my brother was still in uni he brought his then-girlfriend home and my mother had her try on wedding dresses within an hour of meeting her. When they left my mom had already booked a venue for the reception. And she was just a pre-law student! She broke up with my brother the day after - she probably thought he was behind it all. My parents get excited and they overreact, they always do, and with you… you didn’t hear my mom over the phone gushing about you being a doctor and how handsome you are and how we'd have the most beautiful children…”

Ethan raised an eyebrow. ”She does know you're a doctor too, right? And that we're both men…”

”I told her both those things! But you're famous. And rich. And so tall! She called it ’the red thread of fate’. Then she started babbling about insemination and surrogacy… I didn’t even know she knew about stuff like that! I could basically hear her start to make a list of potential baby carriers in her community as we spoke.”

Ethan's cheeks turned violently pink. ”Oh.”

”Yep. Did I say I was sorry? Because I am. She won't be stopped. If you meet her she'll make you go through that list with her. Chances are she'll even invite the best matches over to make us interview them. Right after she has us pick out our wedding china. This has to be stopped. I'm calling her back right now.” Jason reached for his phone on the coffee table but Ethan intercepted him with a hand on his.

”It’s alright, really,”

”I know you think I'm joking, but I'm not. I know it sounds crazy, but she really _will_ do those things. I have seen it before. They meddle cause they care, I know that, but it's a mess.”

Ethan put his hand on Jason's cheek, interrupting his rambling. ”It's ok. I really don’t mind.”

”You don't mind being subjected to my family's craziness?”

”No. I'm serious about us. I want to know everything about you, and that does include your family. You've already met mine, so it's only fair. It's pretty soon after we made it official but we've known each other for a while now, so maybe it's time. Your mom might have to put a pin in those… surrogacy… plans but the rest, the rest I can handle.”

”You say that now, but when my dad tries to give you old Chinese herbal medicine to help us in the bedroom, you will regret it.”

Ethan's cheeks turned pink again. ”Well, we both know we won’t need any help there…” he mumbled behind a light cough.

Jason chuckled in spite of himself. He wrapped his arms around Ethan's waist, pulling him in for a hug and rested his cheek against his shoulder. ”Are you sure about this? I won't be mad if you don’t want to go. Frankly I'll just applaud your sanity.”

”I already said I don’t mind.”

”Even the marriage stuff?”

”Even that.”

Jason let out a huge breath, burying his face the crook of Ethan's neck. ”I guess we can just keep postponing the date indefinitely. I'm sure we can keep coming up with excuses.”

”Well—”

”Or we can say your religion doesn’t allow for men to be married…” he went on.

”Jason…”

” _I_ know you're not religious but _they_ don't need to know that. Or maybe we could just tell them that—"

” _Jason_.”

Ethan's stern voice made him look up. Ethan's blue gaze caught and held his. ”I told you - I don’t mind,” he said.

”But--" Jason had never seen him look so serious before, and that was saying something cause he looked plenty serious, most of the time. His breath caught in his throat as what Ethan meant finally registered. ”Oh.” was all he managed to say at first.

”So you—?"

”Yes.”

”But you—?"

”I know.” He shrugged the shoulder Jason was not currently leaning on. “But with you, I figure it might not be so bad.”

Jason couldn’t help laughing out loud. ”What a ringing endorsement for matrimony! Hold up, let me go buy some rings now!” He made a move as to leave Ethan's embrace but Ethan’s arms closed around him and held him in place.

”I know I haven’t spoken of it so fondly before, but… lately I've been thinking… I wouldn’t mind being married to _you_. I’m not saying we should do it now, or the next year. But I want you around, Jason. For a very long time, possibly forever. And that's what it is, right? A promise of forever.”

Jason just stared at him with a slightly open mouth.

”Well? Say something. Just don’t stand there gawping like a fish.”

”Uh, I…do?”

Ethan snorted. ”I wasn’t proposing to you _now_.”

”Well, good,” said Jason sombrely, ”cause if you did my mom would probably have heard it already through the Fourth Cousin Express and be outside that door with a wedding planner in tow right now.”

”Trust me, when I do, you'll know.”

”Unless I beat you there first…”

Ethan smirked. ”That's always a possibility.” He leaned in and kissed Jason on the bridge of his nose. Jason automatically tilted his head back to give him access to his lips.

”I'm sorry you're being forced into this, I know how much you hate being forced.”

”It's alright. I realise that sometimes I might need the push.”

Jason's lips curled up into a grin. ”Oh yeah?” His hands slipped around Ethan's waist to splay out against his chest. He pressed gently to make Ethan take a step back on the carpet.

Ethan glanced over his shoulder and saw he was angling for the couch right behind him. ”Shouldn’t you be calling your mother back with the news?” he asked as Jason's hands moved to his shoulders to push him down onto the soft cushions.

Jason followed after, sinking down on top of him and straddling his lap. ”Oh, there's plenty of time for that after,” he said.

Ethan chuckled, adjusting his legs to give Jason more room. ”I guess there is.” He reached up and cupped Jason's face and pulled him down for a long and savouring kiss; one with the promise of many more to come.

The phone lay completely forgotten on the table.


End file.
